Oliver Norwood settles down at Sheffield United to target European dream

The Blades’ gifted midfielder hails from Burnley, that proud Lancashire mill town whose football club became just the third English side – following on from Manchester United and Wolves – to play in Europe’s premier cup competition in 1960-61.

The Clarets reached the quarter-final stages before narrowly losing out to Hamburg in what was then known as the European Cup.

A second appearance in Europe followed in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1966-67 with the Red Rose outfit waiting over a half-a-ccentury to qualify for continental football again in 2018-19.

Well placed for next season’s Europa League, it is not beyond the delicious realms of comprehension that the Blades – sixth in the Premier League – could upstage even that stunning feat by securing a ticket to next season’s Champions League party if they finish fifth and Manchester City’s European ban is upheld.

Norwood, for one, is daring to dream when talk turns to penning the next chapter of the remarkable story unfolding at Bramall Lane under the stirring command of Chris Wilder.

Norwood said: “We have put ourselves in a position. It would be silly to say we do not dream or that we have not spoken about it among ourselves.

“But we know it’s going to be tough and there’s a long way to go.

“I do think we have earned everybody’s respect. We have put ourselves in a wonderful position, but nobody is settling. The manager would not let us settle.”

The Blades’s journey is one that the Lancastrian has fully immersed himself in and been a prominent part of.

Most would say – outside of Belfast at any rate – that his decision to call time on his international career with Northern Ireland last summer to give himself the best chance of establishing himself in the big time has reaped a harvest and proved as shrewd as one of the beautifully-judged midfield passes that have lit up United’s Premier League landscape.

At his pre-match press conference, Wilder reiterated his desire to keep the likes of Norwood and Chris Basham for a good few seasons yet – while declaring that he was ‘100 per cent certain’ of not losing either.

For Norwood, who turns 29 in April and is contracted at S2 until the summer of 2021, the fact that he is viewed as part of the club’s here and now and future is music to his ears.

If he has his way, it will involve finishing his career at the club where he has found his true footballing home and is enjoying his peak years at – like a fine wine, Norwood is a player who is simply getting better with age.

Performances not sentiment will ultimately dictate that. But few would back against Norwood, who is in the form of his career and is one of the stand-out midfield operators in the division.

He has provided a convincing case to suggest that he has been one of the club’s best ever buys of the modern era following his arrival initially on loan, in August 2018, said: “It is nice that the club want me to stay here. I have spoken to the manager and the powers that be. We will get there. It is as simple as that.

“Why, from a personal point of view, would I want to go anywhere else? It is a special place to be and arguably I want to be here for the rest of my career.

“I cannot see myself leaving and why would I want to.”

For Wilder, devoting all his energies to finalising his starting line-up for tomorrow’s game with former club Brighton is occupying his immediate attentions as opposed to concerning himself with the hullaballoo on the Unitedite grapevine about a possible European tour in 2020-21.

A barometer for the squad’s sense of well-being – and European potential – is that the Blades chief has a number of taxing selection dilemmas to mull over with club record signing Sander Berge, Bayer Leverkusen loan defender Panos Retsos and forward Richairo Živković, who has joined from Chinese outfit Changchun Yatai on loan for the rest of the season all now acclimatised and up to speed following the club’s winter break in Dubai.

It is the sort of quandary that all managers hanker for.

“One of the things I said to the players is my only job now should be to pick the team. That should be the hardest job and it is the hardest job,” said Wilder.

“They are the hardest choices I have ever had to make during my time as a football manager. It is a great situation to be in, but I am delighted that I am.

“We had a behind-closed-doors game against Lincoln on Tuesday in testing conditions. Panos and Richairo had quite an introduction. Up at Shirecliffe (training ground), the conditions and the wind were not the best.

“But they are pushing. They all are. Players like Luke Freeman, Jack Robinson and Jack Rodwell as well.”